Redeeming Journalism Study for the Teaching of Literature

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A complement to literary studies to test theory through practice

Teachers of literature usually have no place to put journalism but down. I recall only once, as a student majoring in English, being assigned a "variant" of journalism--excerpts from Samuel Johnson's The Rambler--and these were heavily rationalized. After all, didn't Johnson's formidable reputation as a lexicographer, poet, critic, and moralist redeem his "lapses" as a journalist? Wasn't The Rambler actually a dignified "essay-periodical"?

Students of literature are told to avoid "journalese," a vague term suggesting a range of stylistic no-no's including stock expressions, pop argot, sensationalizing …